Sheet metal working machine



y 1932. E. M. CLARK SHEET METAL WORKING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet l 7 Filed Oct. 29, 1928 .5 M. 024,64 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY May 17, 1932. E. M. CLARK SHEET METAL WORKING MACHINE Filed Oct. 29, 1928 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 EM JLAPK IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY Patented May 17, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE EDWARD M. CLARK, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA, AS SIGNOR TO LUSTROLITE, INC., WILMINGTON, vIDEL.A'WARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE SHEET METAL WORKING MACHINE Application filed October 29, 1928. Serial No. 315,718.

The present invention relates to a machine for use in cutting and shaping sheet metal and is impart .a continuation of my prior application Serial No. 106,174 filed May 1,

1926, and entitled Sheet metal cutting and forming machine. The present invention embodies the general principle of the construction shown in the aforesaid application 7 and includes certain improvements made upon that machine-during the subsequent use thereof. Among the objects of this invention are to provide improved machine for theworking of sheet material; to provide an improved machine for the cutting of sheet metal 16 and the forming of theedges thereof; to provide a machine of the character indicated in which the controls are coordinated; to provide, in a machine of the character indicated, means for positively holding the material to be operated upon; to provide means of the character indicated for positively holding the work and yet permitting the same to ice-easily shifted; to provide, in a machine of the character indicated, means whereby large sheets of material may be supported in position for operation thereon and whereby same may be easily shifted while b'eing'worked upon; and such further objects, advantages and capabilities as will hereafter appear andas are inherent in the construction disclosed herein. My invention further resides in the combination, construction and arrangements of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and, while I have disclosed therein what is now considered the preferred embodiment of my construction, .I desire the same to be understood as illustrative only and not to be construed in a limiting sense. 7

' In the drawings annexed hereto and forming a part hereof, Fig. 1 is a broken elevation of a machine embodying the present improvements; Fig.2 is an end view taken from the left side of Fig. 1; Fig. 3is a vertical section substantially, along the plane indicated by the line 3-3, Fig. 4; Fig. 4 is a broken elevation of a portion of Fig. 2 shown on an enlarged scale; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the lower die and die holder, together with the anti-friction means used therein; Fig. 6 is a transverse section substantially along the plane indicated by the line '66, Fig. 3; Fig. l

7 is a fragmentary transverse section of the supporting column and framework, taken be low the tabletop in Fig. 1 and looking downwardly; Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional elevat-ion of a slightly modified form of the lower die element.

Referring more in detail to the annexed drawings, numeral 1 denotes any suitable floor, but it is found in practice, that this floor,- as well as the ceiling '2 above, must be very rigid in order to prevent the dies from becoming misaligned and thereby injured. On the floor 1 is rigidly mounted an upright 3 having a head 4, in which is adjustably mounted a die support 5,-the same being'vertically adjustable by turning the nuts 6 upon the screw threaded shank 7 of the die support. This die support has a groove 8 in its upper surface which is undercut upon one side as indicated at 9 for the holding of the lower die 10. Also mounted in this die support is an anti-friction means 11 whose construction is believed to be obvious from Figs. 3 and 5. The lower die 10 has a head 12 which is elevated above the table 13 in orderthat there may be no interference between the table and work. This is not so essential in connection with the present construction as when cutting dies are being used and pieces of metal curl downwardly and might engage the table and interfere with the work,if thelatter were substantially on the same level as the table top. A guide lug or pin 14 extends upwardly from the die head 12 and furnishes an abutment against which the edge of the metal 15 may rest while being operated upon at 16.

It has been found in practice that a notch 17 in the guide 14 is advantageous as it helps to hold the sheet metal in place while being held against the guide and moved around the same during the operation of the machine, as, for example, in forming a bevel along the edge'of a letter S. An upper die member 18, shaped at its lower end to conform to the shape of thelower die member, is secured to the reciprocating element 19 carried in the head 20. Member 19 is placed in a'gro'ove in the head 20 and is held in place by means of a plate 21 secured inplace by machine screws or bolts 22. At its upper end, the reciprocating member 19 is provided with a pivot 23 to which is connected the link or pitman 24. An oil or grease cup 25 is provided whereby the pivot 23 may be lubricated. The opposite end of the pitman 24 is perforated for engagement with a crank element 26 upon the end of shaft 27. Oil or grease cups 28 and 29 are provided for the lubrication of these bearings. shaft 27 is secured a brake drum 30 with which cooperates a brake band 31. Also secured upon this end of the shaft 27 is a pulley 32 over which runs the belt 33.

As shown in Fig. 4, thebelt 33 leads to a belt pulley 34 upon theshaft 35 of the motor 36 suitably supported upon-the frame member 37 by means ofa shelf or bracket 38. A lever40, pivoted at 41 upon the head 20 carries at one end a pulley 42 by means of which the belt may be ti htened, to cause driving of the shaft 27. t will be understood that when the spring 43 is permitted to turn the lever by reason of its tension upon the arm 44, the pulley 42 will tighten the belt 33 sufficiently to cause driving: of the machine by the motor 36. When the lever is actuated in the opposite direction, the brake band 31 is tightened on the drum. 30 and stops rotation thereof. The tightness of brake band may be adjusted by means of the bolt 45 which appears in Figs. 2 and 4.

Pivotally connected to the lever 40 at 46 is alink 47 which is pivotally connected at 48 to a lever 49. The latter is pivoted at 50 upon an extension 51 from the plate 21. The other end of the lever 49 is pivotally connected at 52 to a sliding block 53liaving a pair of perforated guide arms54 through which extends the shank 55 of the upper presser element 56 which is similar in construction to the lower presser element 11. Surrounding the shank 55 is a spring 57 whose tensionmay be adj usted by means of the nuts 58. The vertical position of the upper presser element 56 may also beadjusted by means of these nuts 58, as. will be obvious from Fig. 3. The block 53 is vertically slidable between the slide-ways 60'and its movements are controlled by the movement of the lever 49.5 As indicated above, the movements of this lever are controlled by the movements of the lever 40. This, in turn, is controlled by the treadle 61 shown most clearly in Fig. 2.

The manner of control of the lever 40 will now be described with reference particularly to Fig. 1. Actuation of the treadle 61 raises link 62 which'is pivotally connected to one arm of the bell crank lever 63, pivoted at 64. The other end of this lever is connected to the link 65 which is pivotally connected to the bell crank 66 pivoted at 67 This bell crank is also pivotally connected to the link 68 which is joined at its other end to the bell crank 69. The other arm of this latter bell Upon the opposite end of the- -7 2 willbe moved downwardly correspondingly and this will move the arm 44 of lever 40 downwardlyv loosening the tension on the belt 33, thus stopping the driving of the machine. At'the same time, the brakeband 31 is tightened up, placing a braking force upon thebrake drum 30 and stopping the operation of the head of the machine and holding the same immovable. Also at the sameti'me, the link 47 is moved downwardly and causes the raising of the upper presser element 56 as described above, thus permitting the metal 15 to be removed from the machine and a new piece of .work inserted for operation. It may be that it is not desired to remove the work or insert a newpiece but merely to shift the work for operation at a new locality. Lifting of the presser element enables this to be done more readily than if pressure were being exerted upon the metal.

A collar is clamped around the support 3 and supports a clamp 76 which fits loosely about said support. Connected to the ends of the clamp? 6 are frame members 77 and 7 8 which extend out to the side and end members of the supporting frame 81 for the table 13. Carriedby this frame 81 are clamps 80 through which extend the legs 7 9 of the table. These legs may beadjusted vertically in the clamps 80 and then the clamps may be tightened up to hold the le s in adjusted position. By thismeans. the height of the table 13 may be adjusted as desired. The frame 81 has. at its end more remote from the support 3, legs 82 which are provided with wheels 83. By reason of these wheels and the connectionto the support 3. it is possible to swing the frame 81 and table13' around; the support to any position desired. thus making it possible to support large work upon the table andoperate upon it at any point and in any direction.

During operation of the machine there should be a distance between elements 12 and 18 approximately equal to the thickness of the metal being operated upon. when these elements are at their point of nearestapproach. Also the edges of the dies should be rounded, off somewhat in order to avoid making dentsin'the metal when bending it.

ing from the spiritof myinvention as set a forth in the foregoing description.

Zia

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. In a machlne of the character stated, a die holder having an anti-frictlon means to assist in holdlng the sheet metal being operated upon, a the secured in the d1e holder, a presser mechanism carrying anti-friction means adjacent the first named anti-friction.

means and cooperating therewith in holding the work, and means to cause the dies to operateupon the metal, the anti-friction means holding the metal steady during operation thereon but permitting the same to be readily shifted as desired.

2. In a machine of the character stated, a die holder having an anti-friction means to assist in holding sheet metal being operated upon, a die secured in the die hold-er, a presser mechanism carrying anti-friction means adjacent the first named anti-friction means and cooperating therewith in holding the work, means to cause the dies to operate upon the metal, the anti-friction means holding the metal steady during operation thereon but permitting the same to be readily shifted as desired, and means to cause discontinuance of the functioning of the machine and to relieve the pressure of the presser mechanism.

3. In a machine for the purpose stated, dies for shaping sheet metal, a gage element in connection with one of the dies for guiding the sheet metal while being operated upon, power means to cause the dies to function, and means to disconnect the power means from the dies and apply a braking force to cause immediate stopping of motion of the parts immediately connected with the movable die.

4. In a machine for the purpose stated, dies for shaping sheet metal, means to hold the sheet metal steady during operation thereon but permitting comparatively free edgewise movement of the metal during such operation, power means to cause the dies to function,

and means to disconnect the power means from the dies and to apply a braking force to cause immediate stopping of motion of the parts immediately connected with the movable die and simultaneously release the pressure of the sheetmetal holding means.

5. In a machine of the character described, a pedestal, supporting means carried by the pedestal for supporting material to be operated upon, holding means cooperating therewith to hold the work steady, tools adjacent the holding means to operate upon the said material, and means simultaneously releasing the pressure of the holding means and stopping the operation of the tools.

6. In a machine of the character described, a head, a reciprocable tool thereon, mechanism for reciprocating said tool, a presser element carried by said head, a lever mounted on said head, means connected with said lever for stopping operation of the reciprocating element, and means connected with said lever for causing raising of the presser element to release the work held thereby.

7 In a metal working machine for forming patterns of uniform width along the edges of sheets of material, having a table for supporting sheet metal to be operated upon and power mechanism for operating the metal working tool; the combination of a die sup port adj ustably mounted with relation to the table, a die carried by the support, a gauge for guiding the work relatively to the die, a second die cooperating with the first die, and means carrying the second die and adapted to reciprocate the same rapidly to cause uniform continuous shaping of sheet metal, in-

any desired design, in conjunction with the first die.

8. In a metalworking machine for forming bevels, half rounds or any desired pattern of any desired width around the outside or inside edges of any irregular designs cut out of sheet metal, and at the same time leave the surface of the sheet metal free from any distortion; the combination of a die support adjustably mounted with relation to the machine, a die carried by the support, a gauge for guiding the Work relatively to the die, a second forming the sheet metal, and means to cause the second die to reciprocate rapidly to cause the aforesaid shaping of the metal.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.

EDl/VARD M. CLARK.

die cooperating with the first die in- 

